Dream Nevermore
by Nikkomaru Tsukumura
Summary: Erik Sandstrom, an 18 year old thief, meets an ancient and they begin on and adventurous journey...
1. The Vatiulus

DREAM NEVERMORE

By Erik Sandstrom 

Disclaimer- I do not own any Lunar or Square-Enix characters.

**__**

Prologue-

The story I am about to tell you is about a mystical quest. About a world called Gaia and its governing elements. In this world, the technology level is low. The only real technology is black and white televisions, stoves, and guns. They do not have automobiles, microwaves, computers, or anything of the sort, so their life is a little less laid back than ours is. The wonder of their world is magic. In the cities, magic is not used, but where the ancients live, it is used freely. The magic helps them in their daily lives. There is one problem to all of this. Every five years, the world starts to fall apart. Cracks form in the Earth's crust and demons arise from the hells. Nobody knows why this happens, but to fix this they send a girl of the ancient race on a journey. A journey to Dasbma, where they complete a trial that heals Gaia. I was a thief who meets with an ancient. The ancient asks for help and I went with her. There are many dangers that we faced on the way and we didn't even want what was in store for us in the end...

**__**

Chapter1- The Vatiulus 

Josh and I panted as we ran down the dark, musty alley. "STOP! THIEVES! STOP!" yelled the merchant who was chasing them. My name was Erik Sandstrom, and I didn't know anything about my past. I was an eighteen year old boy with bright blue eyes and spiky brown hair. I was a little short for my age but I just thought that I had a normal life, kind of like everyone else in the Vatiulus. If you could call that normal. I just knew that I was a thief. And that I was in the 'Vatiulus', a group of thieves, for as long as I could remember. The Vatiulus was my only family. I didn't really like to steal, but that was my only choice. Josh was fifteen and a lot shorter than me. He had brown eyes and dirty blond hair. "HELP ME! THESE THIEVES ARE ESCAPING!" yelled the merchant. He was slowing down to a jog. Josh and I zigzagged through alleys upon alleys and they lost the merchant.

"That was a close one!" Josh said with relief.

"We could out run anyone, don't you think?" I asked as we slowed down.

"Yeah!" Josh replied. "How many merchants does it take to screw in a light bulb?" 

I didn't answer. I had something on my mind. I kept on thinking that living as thieves would probably come back to harm us, and that I never really wanted to be a thief. I just wondered if there was another way.

"What's wrong?" Josh looked troubled.

"Do you actually believe that we can survive on stealing?"

Josh raised the bag of food with a smile, "Hey, we got the goods, right?"

"That's not what I mean."

"What? You don't believe in the Vatiulus??" Josh raised his voice as he scratched his head in disbelief. We were still walking.

".......welllll...."

"Come on, spit it out...."

"Well, what if the authorities find our hide out?" 

"I doubt that. They would never be able to find our..."

"Yeah, but..." I interrupted as I suddenly stopped walking, "...what if we run out of different stores to steal from?" I said in a concerned voice.

"There are tons of stores in this city, and it's not like we can't steal from the same store twice..." I started walking again.

"...but what if some one follows us to our hide out and we don't notice?"

"Do you think any of the Vatiulus could be followed?" Josh stood proud as he said Vatiulus, his only family he ever had.

I sighed. "I guess not."

There was a silence among us as we walked. It seemed to me as if my body was on auto-pilot, you know, when you have been by the place so many times and you don't even have to think about where you're going because you're body does it for you. 

When they were almost there, Josh brought the subject back up, "You must have a lot on your mind."

"....."

"You don't believe in the 'team', do you?" Josh questioned.

"....."

"Well, we're almost there. I'll race ya!"

"Wait!" I stopped again.

"????" Josh scratched his head. "What do you want now??" Josh asked eagerly.

"Promise you won't tell anyone about what we said," I demanded. I was nervous that some else would find out about my doubts.

"...but why??"

"Just do it! I don't want anyone to know I have doubts about the team."

"Hey, you can trust me! We're best friends, remember?"

"Yeah." Josh and I were best friends ever since we met. We have always gotten along and told each other everything. But the most important thing was we _always _kept our promises_. _

"You worry too much."

I slapped Josh upside the head._ "Hey!"_

"Ready?"

"Huh?" I stood, dazed.

"3...2...1..."Josh started.

"Go!" I took off as Josh stood shocked for a couple seconds, then he started to run.

We raced down the street, the wind blowing our hair all around with sweat trickling down our faces. Our faces slowly became red. I was in the lead and Josh trailed shortly behind me, both going at the same speed.

I touched the door and yelled, "Beat ya!"

"You cheated!"

"Hey, it's not my fault you stood there!"

"......come on, let's go inside." 

Josh opened the door and we went in. We were greeted by the 'gang.' Yuffie, Nick, and Shamus stared at us as we walked through door. Nick and Shamus were the same age as me. Nick was a hint taller than me and Shamus a hint shorter. They were fraternal twins. They were also the goofs of the team. I got along with them pretty well, but we weren't the best of friends. They were best friends with each other. 

"How did it go?" Yuffie asked. Yuffie was Shamus and Nick's little sister. She was 16 years old. She had short dark brown hair and was very skinny. She always felt left out of the team because she's the only girl. She seemed to be going through an emotional crisis at the time because her eyes were puffy but nobody ever mentioned it to her.

"Well," Josh started, "We easily stole from that idiot, then on the way back we talked about..." I coughed. "erm, we talked about stealing strategies, yeah!"

"Oh," Shamus said. "Why you guys so sweaty?"

"We raced," I answered.

"Who won?" Nick asked.

"We tied," I lied. Josh smiled.

"Are you done with our interview guys, I think you asked enough questions," Josh said. He jumped onto the couch and flipped the TV on.

"Didn't you get us anything?" Yuffie asked.

"Oh yea, we got hamburger and hotdogs," Josh replied. He threw the meat behind him and Yuffie stumbled to catch it.

"Oh, and here's the soda," I said as he piled a package of soda on the meat Yuffie was holding and ran over to the TV to join Josh.

"What do I look like? A pack mule!?" Yuffie yelled.

"Yes," I replied.

Nick and Shamus broke out into laughter.

"GRRRRRRR!!" Yuffie growled as she stomped in anger. Josh glared at me.

"Just kidding!" I apologized.

Barru barged through the door "Hey, how's everyone doing?" He yelled. 

"Erik called me a pack mule!!" Yuffie whined.

"Hey, hey, hey. Why didja do sumthin' like that, Erik?" Barru said angrily. Barru was the leader of the Vatiulus and was very strict. He was a semi-plump old man with graying hair. He always wanted everyone to get along, after all he was a 58-year-old man and had a lot of stress put on him, since he is the leader of a band of thieves and all!

"I was just kidding!" I defended.

"Whatever, just don't do it again." Barru walked over to the couch and sat down. He grabbed the remote from Josh and changed the channel to the local news station.

"Hey! I was watching that..."Josh complained.

"Calm down," Barru said. "I think we might be on the news, so I wanted to watch."

"Oh," Josh said in surprise.

Everyone rushed over to the television, some standing, some on the couch. When the news started, everyone was silent, the voice of the news reporter echoed throughout the whole hide out...

_"Hello, and good evening city of Milexid. The top story of this evening is about stores raising their prices and why they are. We interviewed many merchants and here is the one police have gotten the most information from. Joe?" the reporter said._

Another reporter standing by a merchant appeared on screen, "Thanks Bob, I'm here with Mr. Heindel, a merchant. So, why are salespeople raising their prices?"

The merchants voice sounded angry, "Well, lately, there are many bands of theives in this city due to poverty. Merchants are losing a lot of money from stolen goods. When this happens, merchants are in debt and they need to get more money, resulting in raising prices."

Then the reporter asked another question, "So what you're saying is that people stealing is the source of all this commotion?" 

The merchant smiled, "Yes, that's what I'm saying. I also think that the police should work on this." 

The reporter shook the merchants hand, "Thank you Mr. Heindel. Back to Bob."

Bob shuffled his papers. "Now May will be interviewing the head of police, George Walters."

A middle-aged woman with red hair was standing next to a Police Official. May started, "So what are you going to be doing about this?" 

The police wiggled his badge, "Well, I think that this situation is horrible. We police are going to cover by being on the watch for thieving and other crimes."

May started talking again, "Do you think this will actually work?"

The policeman stood proud, "Well, I think that it will help a lot."

May continued, "What do you think is the source of all this thievery?"

The policeman cleared his throat, "I think that this is because of the poor school systems. People nowadays don't get an education, then they can't get a job, then they resort to stealing." 

May sounded irritated, "Is it true that you haven't had a high school education?"

The policeman cleared his throat very abruptly. "Some say that."

May sighed, "Is it true?"

The chief whined, "Why do I have to tell you!?"

May's eyes bulged out, "You're being interviewed, sir! Is it true or not?"

The policeman sounded like a baby, "Maybe."

May decided to give up, "Whatever. Back to Bob." They did not shake hands.

Bob looked confused, "Looks to me like trouble's brewing. Anyways, thanks May. After this commercial break, are toddler's toys safe?"

A voice said, "News 74 brought to you by..." Then a bubble soap commercial came on.

At that, Barru turned the TV off. "So, time for some eats!" Barru yelled. He started to walk over to the table. Everyone just stood there, shocked. Josh ran to the table.

"What if the police catch us?" Yuffie asked.

Josh was star-struck. "You think they could catch us? Did you hear that guy? He didn't even get a high school education!"

"Exactly," Barru agreed. Yuffie looked irritated.

"Ah well, I'm hungry!" Nick stated. Everyone ran over to the table. Nick passed out the food and soda. Nick was the cook even though he didn't have to cook gourmet meals or anything.

Everyone started to eat silently. After a little, Barru started talking. "Why's everyone so quiet?" No one responded. "So, are we going to continue the schedule of Yuffie during the morning steal?"

Yuffie looked down at the ground in despair." Are you sure we should steal? I think we should lay low for a while."

"If you don't want to, then I'll do it!" Barru insisted.

"But..."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I just think you're a little old to steal."

"So you'll do it?"

"I guess," Yuffie answered. She looked apprehensive.

Once Shamus finished, he cut the silence by saying, "I'm bushed. I'm going to bed. Good night." He headed towards the bedrooms. There were three bedrooms, one for Yuffie, one for Josh and me, and the last for all of the rest.

"Goodnight," everyone replied.

"I'm going to bed, too," Nick said.

"Me, too," Yuffie said. Then the two left.

Barru walked back over to the TV, flipped it on and sat down. Erik followed. "I don't feel like watching TV" Josh sighed and then he walked to the bedroom.

"You know, I used to be a master thief, the best one around," Barru informed.

I looked up, "Really?? Can you tell me about it?"

Barru looked astonished, "Of course! A month after I was born, both of my parents had been killed by a murderer named Zeke." I gasped. "Don't worry about it! Anyways, a great ninja thief named Zykall found me as a baby and decided to raise me. He was such a good thief, that people said he could swipe six stores in one day and not get caught. He raised me as a thief. As I grew, my thieving skills until I surpassed Zykall. One night, Zeke came and killed Zykall, he tried to kill me, but I escaped. I was 26. That's when I met Yuffie, Nick and Shamus' parents. Niki was 10 and Derik was 12. They were abandoned, so I took them in. That's how the Vatiulus was started. Nick and Shamus were born 14 years later and two years after that, Yuffie was born. When Yuffie turned two years old, Zeke struck again. At age 28 and 30, Niki and Derik were killed. It was horrible. I had to raise Nick, Shamus and Yuffie. As I raised them, I eventually ran into Josh and then you. I don't want to get into the details tonight."

I had a lot to take in. I was silent.

"Well, I'm turning in," Barru said.

"Me, too."

I walked to my bedroom and opened the door. Josh was still awake, sharpening the blade of his knife. Josh looked at me. "Did Barru tell you a story or something?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Josh looked tired, "Hey, I'm gunna go to sleep." He slid into his bed. "Good night."

"Good night," I replied as I laid down on my bed. As I stared at the ceiling, I slowly shut my eyes and fell to sleep. 


	2. Disaster

**__**

Chapter2- Disaster

As I woke up, I looked around, then at the clock. It was 4:29 AM. I rubbed my eyes. I could hear a faint sob coming from somewhere. I got out of his bed and went to the kitchen.

There, hysterically crying, was Yuffie. I ran over to her, worried, "What's wrong Yuffie?"

"It's not fair!" Yuffie said as she raised her head from the table. Her face was covered in her tears. "I can't stand it!" She wiped her eyes. "I hate stealing!"

"Shhhh… come on… it's okay, it's okay. I'm right here. Tell me all about it. You're not the only one who hates stealing, we need to do it to survive."

"It's just, I'm afraid… for myself… for the team."

"I know how you feel…," I hesitated, "I feel the same way."

"I'm afraid to steal… what if I get caught? I hate stealing! It's wrong!"

"Shhh, it's gunna be okay."

"No it's not!" Yuffie looked scared. "You do know that we will eventually get caught?"

"Yeah, I know. For now, we will have to deal with it. How about I go with you on the morning steal. Then, we will figure out a solution," I suggested.

"Okay," Yuffie wiped her tears away.

"I'm surprised that all of that screaming didn't wake anyone up."

Yuffie smiled. Within the next three hours, everyone was out in the kitchen. Chit-chatting was echoing throughout the hide out. They were eager for food.

"Yuffie," Barru started. "Are you still doing the morning shift?"

"Yeah, but Erik wants to come too," Yuffie insisted.

"Yeah, to improve my skills," I added.

Barru patted me on the back. "Good idea, Erik!"

"So I guess we had better head out now," Yuffie said.

"Good idea," Barru replied.

As we left the hide out, we were both eager to get the job done quickly. "Did you get any sleep last night?" I asked.

"No, I was thinking all night," Yuffie answered.

"Hmm… I've done that before."

"…"

"Okay, we're here. You know the drill, right? I'll distract him or her and you'll get the goods. Okay?"

"Yeah."

As they entered the store, Yuffie went down the aisles and I went to the counter. The clerk was watching a small television set. She was a teenage girl with pink hair. I cleared my throat. The girl looked up. She had bright blue eyes. She batted her eyelashes. "Can I help you?" she said as she chomped her gum.

"Yeah," I started, "do you have any Lightning Cooler Twist drinks?"

"Hold on, lemme check," the girl answered. She walked into the back room. Suddenly, she heard the hand bell on the door ring as the two escaped. She ran back out, but only a swinging door was there.

Yuffie and I ran silently. We just ran and ran. A tear trickled down Yuffie's face as we ran. We didn't talk at all because We both hated stealing and we just wanted to get the thought out of our heads. Once they were almost there, I asked, "So, what did you get?"

"Uh… I got some pancakes, waffles, and OJ. We go through a lot of food, you know. We never have any leftovers. That's why we have to steal three times a day. I think it would be better if we all stole some in the morning. We could all go to different stores and swipe as much as possible. Then we would have to steal enough for the whole day… and we wouldn't have to steal as many times. I also think that it would be safer. It'd be harder for them to get us," Yuffie rambled. She wasn't making any sense anymore. It was pathetic.

I thought. "We gotta think of something, a solution for this crazy mess."

"Yeah," Yuffie answered. She opened the door to be greeted by Josh.

"Food!" Josh yelled in joy.

"Calm down, pig boy!" Nick yelled. Shamus laughed.

"Hey!" Josh yelled back.

"All right, all right. We'll be a eatin' soon enough, boys," Barru growled. "So whatja get?"

"Pancakes, waffles, and OJ," I answered.

"Good, it took ya long enough!" Barru joked.

"Hey," Yuffie argued, "I thought we did it pretty fast!"

"Just kiddin', just kiddin'," Barru answered with a smile.

Nick took the food and started to make breakfast. Everyone except me sat at the kitchen table and watched Nick cook, impatiently waiting for food. I went into my room. I took off my necklace and started shining it with my hand cloth. For some reason, my necklace seemed to mesmerize me. I cherished it, I loved it. It was a silver pendant with a sparkly green gem of jade or some other material. There was a strange thing about the gem, though. It seemed like there was a liquid inside of the gem and it wasn't totally filled, so I could shake the liquid around in the gem. I tried to keep it secret for some reason, as if it was a magic key that would unlock the secrets of Gaia. There was something special about it that made me be obsessed with it. I always wore it everywhere, ever since it was given to me by my parents. After my parents died, I wore it as a memento of my parents, since I couldn't remember back to when my parents were alive. As a child, I would rub it when I was scared. I spent so much time with it…

"Erik, come back to our planet… Erik!" Yuffie yelled in my face.

"Wha…wha?" I was dazed.

"Breakfast is getting cold, everyone else is done," Yuffie explained.

"Oh!" I bolted to the kitchen. They must have saved me some food, because there was a plate with waffles and pancakes on the table. I put my necklace on, tucked it into my shirt and sat down at the table to eat. The food was cold. I didn't know I was in my room so long. Yuffie was the only other person in the room. She was watching TV.

"Where is everyone else?" I asked.

"Uh…downstairs training. Once you're done eating, we can start to think of a solution." Yuffie answered. Yuffie was crying from watching a soap opera.

I had no clue how to make sure that the team couldn't get caught. I already knew that they wouldn't be able to think up a solution, even if we thought together. I already knew it was a lost cause. I would do it though, just to make Yuffie feel better, to cheer her up.

I was already done with breakfast. I walked over to Yuffie as Yuffie flipped the TV off. "Ready?" Yuffie asked.

"Yeah," I answered.

"Okay, lets go in my room, so we can have some privacy."

"Sure." I followed Yuffie to her room. Her walls were all pink. Barru painted it that way with, surprisingly, store-bought paint. Yuffie lied down on her bed. I sat next to her.

"So… have any ideas?" Yuffie asked.

"Uh… not really."

"Hmm…"

"If only we could just have the Vatiulus stop stealing," I whined.

"Yeah, but how? That's what all the rest live for. Stealing. Being on the brink of excitement. We wouldn't be able to stop them."

"Yeah."

"Even if we did stop them, some how, what would we do then, how would we survive? None of us have any education."

"You're right." I sighed. "The only possible way to get out of this is for you, Josh, and me to quit. Then we might be able to survive,"

"… and leave my brothers and Uncle Barru here!? They'd be heart broken. I'd be heart broken. Plus, how would you get Josh to come?"

"He'd come if I'd ask him to. But you're right, we couldn't leave them after all we've been through with them."

"Hmm…"

I thought for a while. I looked at the clock. "Whoa! It's 11:30 already. Let's go see if Nick and Shamus are leaving soon."

"Okay, we need a break anyways," Yuffie said with a sigh. They went out into the kitchen where everyone was sitting next to the TV. "So, Shamus and Nick, are you two going to go get lunch?" Yuffie asked.

"Oh, yea! Come on Shamus, let's head out," Nick insisted. He got up and Shamus followed.

"We'll be right back," Shamus said.

"Bye," everyone answered. As Nick started to open the door he peeked out and slammed the door.

"What's wrong?" Josh asked.

"This is serious guys," Nick looked concerned, "There's a bunch of cop cars out there… I'd say at least five."

Yuffie gasped. "What are we going to do?"

Nick looked out the window. He gasped. "They're coming out of their cars. They must have been waiting until they saw someone."

Barru cleared his throat. "Okay, everyone get all the things you need to survive. We'll escape through the back. Meet me at a restaurant called 'John's Diner'. It's on the intersection of 18th Street and Knoll. Erik, you set the hide out on fire and call the police in. Go!" Yuffie was crying.

They all headed to their rooms. I got my two knives, my picture of the team, matches, and some clothes. I lit three matches and put them all on the rug. The fire started to spread. I ran to the front door. I could hear the demands of the police to come out with their hands up. I yelled, "Why don't you come in, chickens??" I yanked the door open and ran out the back door. As I ran away from the house, I could hear screams like, "Get them!" and, "there's a fire in here, call the fire department!"

As I ran, I heard a lot of gunshots and police and fire truck sirens. I thought that it could not get any worse. I hoped that all of the team was safe and made it to John's Diner. I knew the way to Knoll and I hoped everyone else did. I turned down an alleys as a short cut. I heard sobbing. As I looked around, I saw Yuffie scrunched up on the ground, crying.

"Yuffie! You're all right!" I said in relief.

They could hear gunshots and then, "They're down this alley!"

"Yuffie, come on, let's go!" I said.

"No! I don't care if I get caught or die, I deserve it!" she screamed.

"No you don't!" I hoisted Yuffie up over my shoulder. I started running. It was hard for me to out run the police while carrying Yuffie, but I did it. I turned Maple Street and started to slow down. I was exhausted.

Then I heard Nick's voice, "Erik!" I turned around to find Nick. "Erik," Nick started as he caught up, "do you have any idea where Barru was talking about?"

"Yeah, we're almost there," I answered.

"You can put me down now," Yuffie said.

"Okay, let's go!" Nick replied.

We started to run. Yuffie had a little trouble keeping up, but she managed. Once we turned down Knoll, we saw Shamus, Josh, and Barru at John's Diner. We started to run towards them until we saw the police who had them in handcuffs. They turned down the nearest alley to watch from a distance. The cops were putting them into the police car. My heart sank. The car started to go.

"I can't believe this is happening," Yuffie whined.

"At least we made it!" Nick said.

"Yeah, thank God!" said a voice from behind. They tried to flee, but it was too late. The cop was already handcuffing them. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out an intercom. He started talking. "Report, three more thieves caught by the junction of 18th Street and Knoll."

"Right, we'll be right there," answered a voice on the intercom. The cop put an arm lock on them and walked them to the intersection. They could all hear the siren getting closer. I would have struggled, but this guy was really strong and had a firearm. Nick, Yuffie and I didn't say anything. Yuffie was crying again. The car pulled up to the curb.

The man said, "Watch your heads," as he shoved us into the back seat of the car. Yuffie was still crying, silently. The cop joined the driver in the front seat. As the car zoomed down the streets, I was devastated, I couldn't believe that we got caught. I wondered, 'How? Why? What is going to happen now? Are we going to jail?'

The car stopped. We must have arrived. The police came out of the car and opened the door. "Get out!" The cop ordered. They walked us up into the Police Department. "You guys are in big trouble. We've been knuckling down on thieves lately."

We then were escorted to a room with a sign in the top of the door that said 'Department of Thieving'. As we entered, we met up with the rest of the group. There were two police sitting across from them. Nick, Yuffie, and I sat down next to the rest as the two cops who escorted us left the room.

"Is there anyone else in your so called team?" The first policeman asked.

Barru put his hand on the Bible, "No, this is all of them." Barru was a very religious person and attended church more than once a week, so he would never tell a lie when swearing on a Bible. The second person started writing.

"We have found many reports where your 'team' has stolen merchandise off of merchants," the first police stated.

"Yeah, so?" Barru answered, "We needed to steal to live. It was our only way of survival!" The second police man wrote a little bit and then paused and looked up. He was staring at me.

"Hmm… yeah, but it wasn't right and you all know that you're gunna have to pay for it, don't ya?" the first policeman asked. The second was still staring at me.

"Yeah, we know…," Barru replied. Everyone else was silent. I just realized that the second policeman wasn't staring at me, he was staring at my necklace! I suddenly felt violated for a reason I did not know. My necklace wasn't tucked into my shirt.

I stood up and slammed the table with my fists. My handcuffs cut into my skin. "Why are you staring at my necklace!?" I screamed at the second policeman. He flinched but did not respond. "Do you ever talk!?"

The second cop leaned over to the first and whispered in his ear. The first mumbled something into his intercom quiet enough so nobody else could hear. He looked upset. A few seconds later, three policemen entered the room. The immediately walked over to me and started dragging me away while yanking on my handcuffs. "What!? What are you doing!?" I yelled hysterically.

"Stop!" Yuffie cried. The two policemen dragged me out of the room and down the hall.

"What do you want from me!?" I yelled.

"Listen…first, stand up." I jumped up. "We all know who you are. You don't belong on the city. We're taking you to another place." I was baffled. They escorted me into a different room. The policemen shut the door, locked it, and left. I was silent. I didn't know what they meant. I wanted to know what they meant!

The room was the emptiest place I have ever been. It had no spirit or emotion. It was just cold and lonely. The walls were cinderblocks painted white and the floor was just white tile. There were no windows and the light was dimmed. Also, it was physically empty. There was nothing in it. Not anything. There wasn't even any dust. I just went into the corner and sat there silently. Devastated. Worried. Depressed. I could not believe what happened; being caught, being taken away from the Vatiulus. I just could not believe it.

It seemed that I was in there for an eternity. I thought that they were just going to leave me in there forever. It must have been at least three hours when the door opened. I quickly got up. "The jet is here," the policeman said calmly, "You'll be taken away now. I'll escort you to the jet." I didn't respond. Normally, I would have been excited to get on the jet. I have never been on one before. I kind of wondered what it would be like, but there was something about that room that made me overwhelmingly tired and I didn't really care. I just let the man walk me. We went down at least three halls and then exited the building. I would have thought 'This is a big place', if I wasn't so depressed. As we exited the building, we approached a small jet. "Get in," the police officer ordered. I climbed up the ladder and entered the jet. This was similar to the other room. It was very empty, but it had a chair with a seat belt and a small window in it. I sat down and buckled up. I felt the jet take off and watched buildings go by the window. The jet wasn't at all like I imagined it to be. I imagined being pulled into the clouds and all my troubles would vanish, but it wasn't like that. As we went up, my heart just sank and I was anxious of what was coming next. As I slowly fell to sleep, I grasped my necklace and tried to remember my parents. 


	3. Prison Life

**__**

Chapter3- Prison Life

"Get out, prisoner!" yelled an irritating voice that woke me up. I quickly unbuckled and jumped up. "Hurry up, we don't got all day!" the irritating voice called. I wanted to say some choice words to him, but I stopped myself. I climbed down the ladder and was brought inside. It was a small prison, only about 24 cells. Even for a prison, it was very dirty.

"You're sentenced to five years of prison," the officer said as he slammed the gate. The slamming sound of the metal gate made my heart rise up into my throat. I was in denial. It was unbelievable. Five years. Five long, harsh years, stuck with a cellmate. I looked at my cellmate. He was giant. Tall, muscular, and just plain big. His chin wasn't trimmed and he had a patch over his eye for some unknown reason. Probably lost it in a fight. Tattooed on his shoulder was a picture of a skull and he was wearing giant steel-toed boots. He didn't seem to be too promising. I had nothing to do, so I went over to the bottom bunk and fell to sleep.

"Wake up prisoner!" said an echoing voice. I jumped up and banged my head off the top bunk.

"What?" I said in exasperation. I hated to be woken up abruptly.

"Put this shirt on!" said the guard who had thrown a striped shirt through the bars and into the cell.

I got up, went over to where the shirt was, picked it up and stared at it, hesitant to put it on. It was a dirty, white and black striped shirt. It looked like it was pre-owned and never washed. I slowly took off my shirt and with a disgusted face, put on my new shirt. It smelled like a combination of spoiled eggs and elderberry. I was tired of all this excitement, excitement being used sarcastically. So, I went back to sleep.

When I awoke and sat up, the rough voice of my cellmate startled me. "You missed lunch." 

"What? What time is it?"

"Two o' clock."

"Already?"

"Yup."

"They don't even wake anyone up for lunch?"

"Get used to it. Nothing in jail is fair.

"You must be used to it. How long have you been in here?"

"Eight years."

"How much longer do you have?"

"Forever."

'Do I dare ask!?' I thought. 'Ah well, like it matters!' "What did you do?" I asked.

"I murdered my wife and daughter," he responded.

'Why did I have to ask?!?' I thought.

"What did you do?" he asked back.

"I was a thief. I only have five years." There was no more conversation between the two. I was too afraid and my cellmate wasn't used to talking. As time passed, I decided to shine my necklace. I reached down into my shirt for it. It was gone! I jumped up and looked all around. I couldn't find it anywhere. After hours of thinking that it couldn't get worse, it got worse. I had lost my necklace.

After about two hours, a guard came up to the gate and said, "Time for supper. Come on." He opened the gate and my cellmate started to walk out. "Are you coming, prisoner?" the guard asked me.

"No, I'm looking for something," I replied.

"There's not that many places to…"

"I'm looking for it anyway!" I said angrily.

"Okay, okay," the guard replied. He escorted my cellmate away.

'This is my chance,' I thought. I started looking through my cellmate's stuff. There was nothing there. I couldn't find my necklace. 'Where would I have lost it?' I thought. I thought and thought and thought some more. The last time I remembered wearing it, was on the jet. 'They must have taken it from me when I was sleeping!' I thought. That was the only possible time I could have lost it.

I laid down on my bed. My cellmate was escorted back in. He must have finished eating. I just figured that I couldn't get my necklace back. The thought of that made me cringe. As I lay there, I fell to sleep. 

I woke up early in the morning. I knew this because none of the lights were on. I tried to go to sleep, but I just couldn't. I had too many thoughts in my head. Thoughts about the past, present, and future; but mostly about the past.

Eventually, everyone woke up and a guard came to bring them to breakfast. I was extremely hungry, since I hadn't eaten anything the day before. The food was surprisingly good. I was served with waffles, French toast, sausage, and orange juice. For some reason I expected the food to taste horrible. Anyways, I enjoyed it, and after I finished, I was brought back to my cell. I had to do something, so I started a conversation. "What's your name?" I asked.

"Timothy Francis Ferdinand is my full name, but you can just call me Charlie," he responded. I was surprised. "What's your name?"

"You can call me Erik." I didn't know what else to say. I looked around for something to discuss. 'Ah hah!' I thought. "What's that red button for on the wall?" I asked.

"Well, if you press it, somebody would come to escort you to the gymnasium. That's where we play sports and exercise.

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"Well, what did you think we do on our spare time, just lie around?"

"That's what you've been doing."

"We go during the night. I would have woken you up if I knew you wanted to go."

"Oh." I was so happy. Finally, there was something that I could look forward to. Even though I wasn't good at sports, I would have a little action in my life for the next five years.

Suddenly, foot steps and voices were coming from somewhere. "What's that?" I asked.

"It's probably somebody coming to bail somebody out.

"Really?"

"Don't get you're hopes up, boy. They come to bail out friends and family."

I was saddened, but I still walked up to the bars and peeked out. There were three people, a teenaged girl, a woman, and a man. The first girl looked about my age, the woman looked about 23, and the man looked like he was 21. As they got closer, I realized that the girl might have been 17 instead of 18. The girl had shoulder-length dirty-blonde hair, the woman had long black hair and the man had blonde spiked hair. As they approached, I just clutched the bars and prayed. When they reached my cell, the woman skimmed Charlie and I quickly and said, "Come on, there has to be somebody better than this," and they moved on. But the girl's eyes looked onto Erik and stayed there; even though her body left, her spirit wanted to stay.

A few seconds later, I responded, "Darn it!"

"I told you so," Charles replied.

I laid down and was disappointed. I decided that I would never get bailed out. Nobody knew me there. The only people that knew me were the Vatiulus. I wished I was back with them, stealing. Even though I despised stealing, I'd rather be doing it than what I was doing then, nothing.

I heard footsteps coming from the other direction. 'It must be them again. They must have found who they were looking for.' But the group didn't continue walking. They stopped at my cell. The guard opened the gate and the girl walked in. "Are you sure?" the guard asked.

"Okay." the guard replied. "Prisoner! Get up. These people are bailing you."

"Really!?" I yelled excitedly as he jumped up. The woman whispered something to the man.

"Really," said the guard in an irritated tone. "Come on, follow me." I grabbed my bag.

"Bye, Erik," Charlie said.

"Bye!" I said happily.

I followed the girl, woman, man, and guard to the front office. We entered and were greeted by and old lady, "How may I help you?"

"They're going to bail this prisoner," the guard answered. "You can handle the rest."

"Okay," the woman started, "what's your prisoner number?"

"Prisoner what?" I asked, confused.

"Turn around."

"Wha? Okay" I turned around.

"Okay. Number 38." I turned back around. "Now sign these papers," the lady demanded. The girl signed the paper in three places, and then Erik did the same.

"Now, just go into the back room and get changed out of that filthy shirt." I did what she said and changed into a new, clean shirt. "Okay, that's all! Buh-bye!" She threw the shirt away. We all left.

When they got out, I was first to talk, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, and thank you more."

"You're welcome," the girl replied.

"By the way, what are your names?" I asked.

"My name is Leslee," said the girl.

"My name is Lulu," said the woman.

"You can call me Cloud. Nice to meet you," replied the man. He shook my hand and said, "So, what's you're name?"

"Oh, it's Erik!" I said.


End file.
